'Arrow' review: One hero makes the ultimate sacrifice in epic finale

Season 1, episode 23 | Aired Wednesday, May 15 2013 at 8:00pm EDT on The CW

Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) seems to hold all the cards as the first season finale of Arrow begins - Oliver is in dire straits, held captive with his secret identity exposed. But less than 24 hours before the Undertaking begins, Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) throws a curveball - confessing to her crimes at her son's urging, she forces Malcolm to go on the run...

Oliver has to face his foe one last time and, unable to best Malcolm alone, has to learn to rely on the rest of Team Arrow - Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) - to win the day. "I can't let you do this by yourself, man," says Diggle. "A soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone." Be still, my beating bromantic heart.

Thea (Willa Holland) meanwhile wants to save her boyfriend, and Glades resident, Roy (Colton Haynes) - a man so down-on-his-luck he only owns one hoodie - and the show has fun teasing us whether it'll be Roy or 'Speedy' who eventually becomes Ollie's sidekick. The smart money's on the former, but note the latter's "wicked aim".

In the end, the Undertaking plot reaches a genuinely shocking resolution - surely we all expected Oliver to thwart Malcolm's plot? Instead, in truly impressive scenes, the East side of the Glades falls - credit not only to Arrow's visual effects team, but also to the show's writers for having the balls to follow through with such a major plot twist, one that'll doubtless have huge ramifications heading into season two...

The destruction of the Glades takes a personal toll on Oliver (Stephen Amell) too. His friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) has long been this show's punching bag and his suffering reaches its zenith here, as he gets his heart broken by Laurel, Oliver *and* his dear old Dad. He's lost everything in his life... and by episode's end, he's lost that too.

Right now, I'm uncertain how I feel about the decision to kill off Tommy Merlyn. He was one of this show's more interesting characters, a sympathetic underdog who repeatedly found himself trampled as 'giants' - Oliver, his father - waged war all around him.

His death, though painful, is perhaps the inevitable conclusion to his story. Tommy was never appreciated by anyone in his life - not Oliver, Laurel or his father. Now he's dead - proving his worth to all in one final heroic act - and, on some level, they're all to blame for it.

It's possible that the character will have just as much of an impact in death as he did in life, as every single character is left reeling from his untimely demise.

'Sacrifice' is the best of Arrow, containing all the hallmarks that made this first season great and few of the weakness that sometimes dragged the show down.

Regular readers of my Arrow episode reviews will know by now that I usually find the island scenes a bore - oftentimes, they just can't compete with Oliver's present-day exploits in Starling City.

But here, the flashbacks are sufficiently epic and action-packed to hold the attention, with some spectacular work from director David Barrett, and the arc as a whole - with Oliver making his first kill - comes to a satisfying conclusion.

The show's inventive and surprisingly brutal action sequences have also been a weekly treat and 'Sacrifice' contains many fine examples - the opening chain beat-down, the three-way face-off between Oliver, Dig and Malcolm, and the final showdown between the two archers.

Keeping the show grounded, as ever, is a terrific lead performance from Stephen Amell, who's that rarest of things - an action man with real acting chops.

In his final turn as tragic Tommy, there's some fantastic work from Colin Donnell too, and while you could never accuse him of being too subtle, John Barrowman is a brilliantly hissable villain.

Let's hope Malcolm returns, since there's still so much to learn about his past and so much to explore in his future - the revelation that he caused his son's death is sure to take quite a toll...

Since it kicked off last year, Arrow has had its ups-and-downs, but the show's steep improvement curve since the pilot episode has been remarkable. Bowing out - for now - in fine style, the show is at an absolute peak and I await season two with enormous anticipation.